Cell Phone Addiction: Are We Becoming a Nation of Cell Phone Junkies? Essay Example

It is usually difficult to determine if a trend in society is attaining proportions that render it addictive, or occurring at unhealthy levels, simply because the trend itself is so widely adopted and supported by those engaging in it.  This is powerfully exemplified in the case of the cell phone today.  Just as many criticize what is seen as an irrational dependence on the devices, so too does the bulk of the society carry and use them, and often in a relentless way.  Such avid users typically dismiss ideas of cell phone addiction as nonsensical; it is, they assert, a tool and a convenience.  Often, in fact, it becomes indispensable for business and travel.  Consequently, it is largely felt that addiction may not apply.  Cell phones are, in fact, serving their purpose when they are used a great deal of the time.

Such arguments, however, ignore certain realities, as well as disturbing possibilities.  In regard to realities, the facts are somewhat alarming.  If, for example, there is any doubt that cell and smartphone usage has created addictive situations, a recent study should put such doubts to rest.  According to a  2011 national survey, 22 percent of cell users would go without brushing their teeth for a week, rather than lose cell access for the same time.  20 percent would forgo shoes, given the same choice, and iPhone users double the percentages in both cases (Braff 2012).  These figures themselves challenge assertions that only convenience prompts excessive usage, because there is a distinct evidence of actual need here.  It follows, then, that any need not dictated by basic necessity, such as food or shelter, takes on the qualities of addiction.

In terms of other practical considerations, other reasons for excessive usage become equally suspect.  On one level, and as multiple studies reinforce, people adamantly believe that carrying the cell at all times is a valuable safety measure (Ling  38).  This is understandable, and even highly sensible.  At the same time, usage itself alters the rationale; it is one thing to value the cell as a security measure, and another to be endlessly using it, and the latter circumstances create serious problems for both society and for individuals.  There is, of course, the danger of cell overuse in regard to driving.  States are increasingly legislating call usage during driving as illegal, simply because the driver’s concentration is broken by the communication.  There is as well the vulnerability created by the “surveillance society” massive cell usage creates.  Not only are potential criminals better enabled to track and follow cell users, but frequent users also tend to generate vulnerabilities of their own.  More exactly, as the cell junkie becomes more accustomed to communicating in all public arenas, it is more likely that less filtering will occur in regard to what is being said (Ling 53).  Furthermore, an insidious aspect to this issue is that the individual consequences of cell phone addiction go beyond what may be expected.  Research reveals that it is not only time issues that are generated by the addiction; sleeplessness, body aches, extreme anxiety, and depression have been identified as typical in adolescents who rely on their devices (Rosen  64).  Not surprisingly, the same symptoms often surface in chemical dependencies.

These practical realities indicating cell addiction presence and problems notwithstanding, there remains the unsettling factor of just why excessive users defend their habits, and it is likely that this is due to a new interpretation of what communication itself is.  What individuals feel the need to communicate has historically been at least partially dictated by means; before the telephone, for example, matters to be communicated were usually of importance, simply because the process was difficult.  The content of the communication, then, was typically valuable.  With the immensely augmented access of the cell, consequently, what is being said is no longer restricted by issues of difficulty, so content is virtually unbounded.  This then changes behavior, and likely in an unhealthy way.  More exactly, while the idea of communicating remains esteemed, the content is greatly weakened, so cell phone addicts are essentially demeaning what was a defining element of civilization.  Certainly, important message are conveyed by cells, but it is irrational to assume that the perpetual usage occurring in all public arenas is of such a quality.  This is supported by any trip on a train or visit to a restaurant, where it is invariably seen that people, in the company of others, never divert themselves from their cells.  In a very real – and disturbing – sense, the medium truly has become the message, and cell addiction must exponentially lessen quality of content.  Society suffers, then, because its exchanges are increasingly meaningless, and the individual suffers because they are locked within a behavior ultimately pointless.

Works Cited

Braff, D.  “Being Glued to Your Cell Is a Problem, Experts Say.”  The Chicago Tribune, 2012. Web.  Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-18/health/sc-health-0118-cell-phone-20120118_1_internet-addiction-iphone-users-slot-machines

Ling, R. S.  The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society.  San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2004.  Print.

Rosen, L. D.  iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us.  New York: Macmillan, 2012.  Print.